


The Puppeteer Prince

by TheAllKnowingOwl



Series: the way things could've, would've been [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: F/F, Fairy Tale Style, Gen, Screw Conventions, With A Twist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-08
Updated: 2017-12-08
Packaged: 2019-02-12 05:48:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12952662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheAllKnowingOwl/pseuds/TheAllKnowingOwl
Summary: There is a wise son.There is a foolish son.All is not as it seems...





	The Puppeteer Prince

There was once a land ruled by a kind and benevolent king and queen. The kingdom flourished under them, and they bore two sons.

The first was everyone's champion: tall and strong, his skin bronzed by many hours spent in the sun, and beloved of the people.

But for all his skill with the shield and sword, his brain was far more lacking than his brawn.

The second was small and slim, and his skin was sallow and waxen from days spent learning the ways of the world from parchment. His back was hunched from a lifetime spent poring over books, thirsty in his hunt for wisdom.

But knowledge does not equal love, and when he walked through the streets of the golden capitol city, the people whispered behind their hands.

"Look!" they hissed. "It is the King's sorcerer son! Do not trust him or he will bewitch you!"

The old king and queen looked upon the situation with dismay, for they loved both sons equally, and though he was the people's favourite, the strong son could not rule, for his foolishness would cause the kingdom to fall.

Then one day, the wise son came to them with a solution:

"Put your brave son on the throne," he told them. "And place me behind it to whisper in his ear. Let me speak through him, as a puppeteer does through his doll."

The king and queen saw the wisdom in his words and agreed, so when they died the following winter, the younger son's plan was put into place.

Years passed, and the kingdom prospered through the Puppeteer Prince.

When an army came to the outer plains, he would send spies to sow discord among the troops, and his superior tactics would win the battle.

When the floods and the famines came, no one died, for with his foresight and careful planning, there would always be enough food for all until the crops grew again.

When worries arose about the lack of an heir, he picked a proper princess of the right breeding, looks and nature to marry the king. It didn't matter that she was dimmer than a torch behind a brick wall, for her prettiness shone more intensely than the brightest star in the night sky.

When belief in their king was wavering, the Puppeteer would find a troubled youth, from a faraway land, and corrupt them into believing that all of their problems were due to the king. Then his golden lies would spark in them an interest in spells and magic, until they became a sorcerer or enchantress of almost the darkest kind, rampaging through the country.

But for all their tricks and power, in his wisdom, he would always leave an unseemingly fatal flaw for the mouthpiece king to exploit, making him the people's idol, once more.

He would always keep the cards close to his chest.

Many years after the death of the old king and queen, the citizens of the land began to look upon the Puppeteer Prince with new eyes.

They were cold eyes.

Hard eyes.

Eyes that found every flaw, and found him wanting.

In this, they were true in their own vision.

So they took him, from his chambers, as he sat in the kingdom's heart, protecting the people from themselves, and they killed him.

Seeing the country unstable and weakened without its cornerstone, enemy armies took the faultlines in the once insurmountable house, and exploited them. Their warriors and scoundrels drove through the streets, pillaging and purging the land of all goodness.

Without anyone to hold the strings, the kingdom fell.

All because of the dead Puppeteer Prince. 


End file.
